Coming Home
by Darkchilde
Summary: The sequel to "Readjustments". Caitie finally comes home...


It was almost too easy, Genevieve Waite thought dazedly as she sat in Max Huff's office nearly three days later after getting 

Disclaimer: Well, since Disney doesn't want them anymore, does that mean their up for grabs?If they were, I want them!I want them!(Especially Jamie…he can live in my dorm room with me!My roommate won't mind!) *gasps in shock* I can't believe it!I actually got Coming Home finished!!!*does happy dance* Go me!Go me!Be on the look out for "Gone, But Not Forgotten", the next story in this arc, and the second to last in the series.Anyway, I don't own the characters you recognize, but I DO own the characters that are mine.(Except for Sam and Cindy…their not exactly mine either.)This one is for Mad Cow and Arcadia, because they are the bestest!*mutters about el jerko*You two are the greatest!!! Anyway, without further ado….

Coming Home

It was almost too easy, Genevieve Waite thought dazedly as she sat in Max Huff's office nearly three days later after getting Caitie Roth's acceptance in the hospital.

The red haired woman nervously crossed and uncrossed her legs, her hands clenched in her lap so tightly that her fingers were beginning to turn white. The morning sunlight splashed through the windows, bright and cheerful, illuminating the pictures of his daughters that her lawyer kept on his desk.At any other time, the pictures of the cute little girls would have made Genevieve smile, but now she was too preoccupied with her thoughts to spare the pictures a glance.

Was she doing the right thing, asking Caitie's parents to give her custody of the girl?Would they even do it?If they didn't, would Genevieve fight for her? 

Without even thinking about it, Genevieve knew that the answer to her last question was a resounding "yes".She couldn't abandon that little girl to the, obviously, less then tender mercies of her natural parents. Genevieve herself had grown up in a similar situation; she'd sooner die they knowingly let another child live through it.

Sighing, the woman ran her fingers through her bright red hair, sending a silent pray to whomever might be listening that this would go better then she was expecting it too.The sound of a throat clearing made her jump slightly, before she rose and turned around, coming face to face with Max's secretary Peggy and a couple who she didn't recognize.

The woman, however, bore a strong resemblance to Caitie, and after a split second, Genevieve deduced that these were obviously the Roths, and they were both more the slightly confused by what they were doing here.Genevieve studied them for a second, her dark brown eyes flickering over them, a bitter taste filling her mouth.These were the people that beat and abused Caitie, and they looked as if they had no idea why they had been called to a lawyer's office.

"Now, who, exactly are you?Don't tell me that you're the lawyer."Caitie's father, Ben Roth, if Genevieve remembered correctly, sneered, his hand clutching his wife's arm possessively.Genevieve's eyes darted to Jennifer Roth, who had a slightly pained expression on her face, but she quickly schooled it into pleasant expression.

"No, I'm not the lawyer."Genevieve had to fight to keep herself from snarling at the man.Somehow, she would never truly know how, she managed to keep her voice borderline pleasant.

"That would be me."Max's deep bass filled the room, and, a second later, the man strode in, tossing a manila fold onto his desk as he sat down behind it, leaning back in his chair."Please have a seat."He offered the Roths, waving at the assorted three chairs that stood around his room.

Genevieve reclaimed her chair, and the Roths, eyeing the woman suspiciously, sat as well.

"Would you please tell us what the meaning of this is?"Ben Roth asked, his muddy brown eyes hard and unforgiving.Genevieve couldn't help but note that Caitie had her mother's eyes, eyes that looked a bit more worried then her husband's."And who is this?"The man stabbed a rather beefy finger at the petite redhead, who wanted desperately to snap some rude comment back.Genevieve just managed to keep her firebrand tongue under control, but it took massive effort.

"This is Genevieve Waite, and she's here to discuss your daughter…er…Caitlin with you."Max consulted the papers in the fold for a second, before looking to Genevieve.Before the Roths had gotten there, the two of them had decided that it would be Genevieve to inform them of what, exactly, it was that she wanted, and then they would go from there.

"What about Caitlin?What trouble has that brat gotten into know?"Ben asked, irritably, and, again, Genevieve had to bite her tongue.

"Caitie's in no trouble."Genevieve fought the urge to tell him that he, on the other hand, might be, if she was given half the chance."But there is…something that I would like to discuss with you."

"What?"Jennifer asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Since there was actually no polite way of saying it, Genevieve decided on the direct route."I'm planning on suing you for custody of her."

"WHAT!?"Ben roared, coming to his feet and dropping his wife's arm for the first time since they had been there.

It went rapidly downhill from there.

After twenty minutes of hearing Roth rant and rave like some kind of lunatic, watching Jennifer sit with a pinched face, and listening to Max attempting to explain exactly what she was asking for to the unhearing couple,Genevieve had had quite enough.Coming to her feet like a bolt of fire, her bright red hair nearly glowing in the light of the room and her eyes spitting dark fire, the little Canadian woman preceded to yell the much bigger man down in a voice that, when used to summon one of her children, had them rapidly searching through their thoughts in an attempt to remember what exactly it was that they had done.

"HOW DARE YOU STAND THERE AND ACT LIKE YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHY I'M ASKING—NO, DEMANDING—CUSTODY OF CAITIE?!"Were the first words out of her mouth, in a near deafening roar."You neglect, emotionally batter and down right ABUSE that little girl and I won't stand for it any longer!You're both selfish, cruel and rude, and it's a wonder that Caitie turned out as well as she did with having people like you for role models!If you won't sign the papers, I'll take you to court and drag you both through the mud, even if you do, by some act of God, win.You'll never be able to show your faces socially again!"Genevieve noticed the way Jennifer winced at that comment, and her lips twisted cruelly, disgust for the woman filling her."That poor little girl has been through hell and back, and I WILL NOT stand by any longer and watch it!"

Jennifer looked slightly sick, but Ben was too angry to care about what the woman was saying. "Whatever lies that little brat has been filling your empty head with, they aren't true!"

"She hasn't told me anything—I can see it with my own eyes!"Genevieve screamed back, her eyes glinting dangerously."She's at my house more then she's at her own home, she spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with us, and would have been there for New Years had she not been HOSPITALIZED!"

Jennifer flinched back, and Genevieve took that as a sign that the woman hadn't known where her own daughter was for the past several days.The red head couldn't imagine not knowing, or worse, not _caring where her children were—she knew were all of them, from Jamie to Sami were almost constantly.Turning her attention away from Ben to his wife, Genevieve narrowed her eyes at the woman, her lips pulling into what could be considered a snarl._

"Sacre Deiu, don't you care anything about your daughter?!How could you not!She's your DAUGHTER!You're her MOTHER!"

"How would YOU KNOW!?"Now Jennifer was on her feet, screaming."How the hell would you know what it's like!?"

"I AM A MOTHER! What, you thought I just found Caitie on the street one day and took her home with me?!MY oldest is her best friend—that's how I met her!Shortly after that LOVELY incident, right after Halloween, right Mrs. Roth!?"Genevieve spat out, her eyes flashing brightly.She saw Jennifer's uncomprehending look, and she wanted to throw up."You can't even remember, can you? What, it's such a common thing now, that you can't even remember?!"

Jennifer stopped and stared at her for a moment, realization dawning in her eyes."That…that BOY…that was with Caitie…"  
  


"My son."Genevieve spat out.

"He…he…" 

"Yes, he saw.He saw it all.Now, if you don't both want to end up in JAIL, I suggest that you SIGN THE FUCKING PAPERS!"Genevieve slammed the papers down in front of them, her eyes blazing with holy fire.

They did. 

@-}--}---

"There had to be something illegal about that."Peggy stood outside the door, staring at a much calmer Genevieve, who smiled brightly back.

"Whatever do you mean?"She asked innocently, tilting her head to the right and giving her Crimson's patented wide-eyed innocent look.

"What you did in there.SOMETHING about it had to be illegal."Peggy told her, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head back and forth.

"Oh, well, I'm sure Max will figure it all by next Tuesday."Genevieve shrugged, flashing a million watt smile.

"That's when you and the Roths are coming back to finish the paperwork?"Peggy deduced, smiling at her much shorter friend.

"Yes.I hope things go as well as they did today."Genevieve answered sarcastically, before rolling her eyes.

"Yeah."Peggy agreed, almost shuddering at the memory of the echoing screams of Genevieve and the Roths.

@-}--}---

"So, when do I get to get out of here?"Caitie Roth asked for the forth time, leaning back against the pillows of her bed, looking around the hospital room in distaste.

"Tomorrow, Caitie."Jamie Waite answered for the fourth time, shaking his head.

"What time?"Caitie demanded, turning her head to look at the clock.

"Why do you want to know that?"Crimson Waite, from her position of lounging on the vacant bed beside Caitie asked, lifting her eyebrows and looking at Caitie like she was slightly crazy.

"Because, I want to know EXACTLY how many more minutes until I can get out of this place."The brunette informed her, crossing her arms and looking like she was trying very hard not to pout.

Jamie couldn't help it; the young man burst into laughter, burying his face in his hands."You're crazy, Caitie."

The sound of a throat being cleared got the attention of the trio in the room, and they looked up to find four people milling around in the doorway, looking slightly uncomfortable.Tyler Connell stood protectively close to Val Linear, and Hank Beechum stood next to him, Val's little sister Brooke in front of him.

Jamie grinned, and waved a hand toward the rest of the squad."Hi guys…you know, you can come in.We're not going to bite."

"Speak for yourself, Jamie."Crimson ordered, sitting up and swinging her feet over the edge of the bed.Brooke looked at her, a little bit uneasily, with a spark of recognition in her eyes.The red head smirked at her, lifting an eyebrow."I might get hungry."The words seemed directed solely at Brooke, who looked down at her feet and blushed brightly.

Val and Tyler exchanged looks, while Hank just struggled not to look amused.It was at this point that Caitie decided that it was time to speak up.

"Well, look at that.The entire super squad decided to visit me!"But they knew she was teasing, her dark eyes sparkling.

"Hey, I wouldn't want to visit you by myself.Why d'ya think I always come with him?"Crimson cracked, pointing her finger at her older brother at the end of her sentence.Caitie put her hand up to her face, and snorted, trying to hold the laughter in.

"How are you Caitie?"Tyler broke, smiling slightly at the banter between the two girls.

"Pretty good.You should see the other guy."Caitie replied, rather jovially.

"That's why Caitie's my role model, and not you, Romeo."Crimson gleefully informed her brother, who rolled his eyes, trying to contain his own laughter.

"I knew there had to be a reason."Jamie mused, after he had gotten control of his laughter.

"Don't worry, Jamie, you'll always be my role model."Jazz Waite's voice declared, as the petite brunette made her way through the crowd of EMTs at the door, Sami and Molly dutifully following along behind them.When they were free of the crowd, the youngest Waite, Sami, crowed with delight at seeing her big brother and her "favoritest" Caitie, as she had taken to calling the girl.

"Oh, God.That's just what the world needs—another Jamie."Caitie moaned in response, and Jazz flashed a brilliant smile, her eyes glowing.

"Yeah, I thought so too."Only some who knew her very well knew that Jazz was joking.

"You know, I'm beginning to feel unloved."Jamie complained from his seat, and then grunted slightly when Sami flung her self at him and clambered into his lap.

"I still love you, Jamie!"She reminded him, giving him a smacking kiss on the cheek.

"See, at least I have one mind that I can mold in my image."Jamie informed the room at large.

"Dear God, that poor child."Caitie teased, as Sami leaned forward in her brother's arms to give Caitie the same smacking kiss she had given her brother.

"Umm…err…are we interrupting?"Val asked uneasily, watching the byplay between the Waite kids and Caitie in fascination.Never had she seen her best friend so at ease around a group of people this way.

"No, not really, we're just goofing off." Jazz smiled at Val, and the blonde remembered that she was Jamie's little sister from the other day.And so was the loud mouthed red head that had been heckling Brooke when they came in.But who where the two little girls?

As if reading her mind, Jamie spoke up."I guess you guys don't know these brats, huh?"

"Brooke thinks she knows me."Crimson called back, flashing the girl an almost feral smile.Jamie knitted his eyebrows at the girl, before shaking it off.

"Guys, these are my sisters, Jazz, Crimson, Molly and Sami."Jamie said as he pointed to each girl in turn. 

"And he's Jamie!"Sami piped up, pointing to her brother who was also doubling as her chair.

"Yeah, and that's Caitie!"Crimson called, making Caitie and Jamie both laugh.

"Yeah, um, we know Caitie."Tyler told the red head, who rolled her eyes at him.

"No, really?"

"Crimson, be nice."Jamie chided his little sister, which earned him shocked looks from both his little sister and his best friend."What?"

"You sound like Mommy!" Molly informed him, laughing.

"I do not!"Jamie protested, looking pitifully at Caitie."Do I really?"

"Yes!"Crimson and Jazz sang out together, before cracking up.

"Well, not exactly like her…your mom's voice is higher then yours is."Caitie told him, laughing at his slightly horrified look.

"Gee thanks."Jamie groused, leaning back in his chair, before turning to look at his guests, whose expressions were slightly awe-struck.Caitie seemed to notice to, and she lifted her eyebrows at him, as if to ask 'what's wrong with them?'

"Umm…guys?Are you…okay?"Jamie asked, knitting his eyebrows together and looking at them in worry.

"Uh…yes?"Val was the first one to recover.Before, when she had visited Caitie, Jamie and his younger sisters had been more subdued, worried for the girl.Now that they knew she was going to be alright, they were greatly relieved, an emotion that tended to make them a little…hyper. And loud.And more then a little silly.

"Oh, _I know where their probably is."Caitie piped, waving her hands dismissively._

"Oh yeah?What?"Jamie wanted to know, lifting his eyebrow.

"THEY'VE never seen you with your goofball little sisters.I bet they didn't even think you could act like this."On the word "this", Caitie spread her hands as if to indicate the room at large.

"What?Normal?"Crimson asked.

"Goofy?"Jazz suggested.

"Weird?" Was Molly's suggestion.

"Happy?"Not to be outdone, little Sami had offered her own suggestion.

"That's it."Caitie agreed with the little girl.

"That's not true; they've seen me happy before."Jamie nodded his head as if to emphasis his point, turning back to his friends on the EMT squad."Right?"

"Ummm…"

"Well…"

"Uhhh…." 

"Not quite THIS happy."

Jamie turned mock-horrified eyes to his family."They act like I'm never happy."

"Point?"Crimson asked, holding her hands out as if to say 'Are you GOING somewhere with this train of thought'?

"Hush, Crimmie."

"Bite me, Romeo."

At this point, Hank couldn't keep his mirth at bay, and was quietly snickering into his hand.Caitie noticed, and rolled her eyes, grinning."You think this is bad, you should have been here yesterday.They were SINGING then."

As if she had given them some sort of cue, Crimson, Jazz, Jamie, and even Molly and Sami burst into a rather gleeful rendition of Fuel's "Bad Day".

@-}--}---

"Well that was…strange."Tyler noted as the foursome made their way away from Caitie's hospital room, the strains of "It's Been Awhile" by Staind drifting after them.

"I've never seen Jamie act like that before."Hank agreed, shaking his head and grinning a little bit.

"I've never seen CAITIE act like that!"Brooke piped up, her eyes wide.

"Hey, Brooke, what was the deal between you and Jamie's little sister?"Val asked, lifting her eyebrow.

The blonde girl suddenly wouldn't look at her, studying her feet."What d'ya mean?"

"You and the red head.You know, she looked about your age…do you know her?"Her older sister asked, eyeing her sister in confusion.

"Umm…we have…umm…choir together.She…uhh…doesn't like me very much."Brooke muttered, looking down at her shoes.

"Why?" Tyler asked, curious.Suddenly, Val gasped.

"Was that the girl that sung the solo at this year's Christmas concert?"Val asked, looking at the girl."The one you tried out for?"

"Uh yeah."Brooke said, looking down at her feet, like she was embarrassed about something.

"So, why doesn't she like you?"Val wanted to know.

"It wasn't my idea."The younger blonde girl muttered, looking down at her feet in what could be taken to be shame. 

"What idea, Brooke?"Val asked, looking at her sister in concern.

Brooke heaved a sigh of someone who had the world on her shoulders, and pushed a lock of her hair back with a sigh."Amy and Nicole started some rumor about her…I don't even know what it was, but it eventually got to the point where people thought she was a cannibal."

"Brooke!"Val sounded shocked, and put her hands on her hips."Did you and the girls apologize to her?"

"I didn't know she was Jamie's sister!"Brooke protested, and her older sister sighed, running her fingers through her blonde hair.

"That is beside the point.You need to go back right now, and tell her you're sorry." Val demanded, stopping short and turning back toward her best friend's room.

"But Val…"Brooke began, knowing that her sister was right.

"Come on."Val started off down the hallway, with Brooke trailing along behind her, and Tyler and Hank behind _her. _

@-}--}---

Caitie burst into applause as the final notes of the song died down, chuckling."The Van Tromps you are not, you guys."

"HEY!I'll have you know that _I am a very __good singer."Crimson informed her, hands on her hips."__I got the solo in the Christmas pageant."_

Caitie laughed, and nodded, "Yeah, I remember."

"So do I!"Jamie groaned."I never want to hear Hark the Herald Angels ever again!"

"Shut up!I was GOOD!"Crimson put her hands on her hips and glared at her brother, but her eyes sparkled.

"I didn't say you weren't good, I just said I never wanted to hear it again."The young man told her, laughing as she rolled her eyes.

"Hey, did you ever find out who started those rumors about you?"Caitie asked, remembering Crimson's major source of annoyance with the "pretty people" from around Christmas.The girl really was too much like her brother, Caitie couldn't help but think. Some of those rumors Jazz told me about were pretty nasty—if it had been me, I would have been a lot more sad-upset, I think.But she just got pissed off—which is what I'm sure is what Jamie would have done too.

"No, but I have my guesses."Crimson's voice was suddenly low and dangerous. Jazz's snort surprised them—it wasn't in mirth, but in agreement.

"So do I.And that snotty little Linear brat is at the top of the list."

"You guys, Brooke wouldn't do something like that."Jamie defended the girl.

"You're just saying that because you've never seen the little brat flounce around school like a friggin' queen."Crimson snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, she and her little clique of "pretty people" really hated it that one of US got the solo." Jazz's voice held more malice then Caitie had ever heard from her before.

"One of "US"?"Jamie asked, making quotes in the air with his fingertips.

"_You know what I mean, Jamie." Crimson informed him, tilting her head back and giving him her patented don't-be-stupid-look._

Jamie and Caitie exchanged a look, both wincing slightly.Sure, they both had their own run-ins with the "in-crowd", but they hadn't realized that the younger ones went through similar experiences.

The polite clearing of a throat caught their attention at that point, and, as one, the group turned to face the source.Brooke stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest, Val hovering behind her.Jamie saw Crimson roll her eyes out of the corner of his eyes.Caitie tried to suppress a smile at the suddenly familiar stance the redhead struck—arms crossed over her chest, dark eyes daring Brooke to try something.

"Ummm…"Brooke began, chewing on the bottom of her lip.

"Brooke had something she'd like to say to you, Constance."Val glared at her little sister.

"Who the hell is Constance?"Crimson snapped, lifting her eyebrow and glowered at the sisters with her brother's favorite glare.

"Ummm…"Val trialed off, looking amazingly like Brooke at that moment."Isn't that…" 

"No."Jazz huffed, crossing _her arms over her chest and matching Crimson's glare._

"Her name's Crimson, Val. Remember?"Caitie couldn't resist the little dig, a small smile playing on her lips as she watched her perfect best friend flounder a bit.It really wasn't funny, but Caitie couldn't keep the little grin off of her face.

"Oh." Val muttered, looking down at her feet for an instant.However, she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin, touching Brooke on the shoulder with a firm hand as she did so."Brooke has something she wants to say to you, Crimson."

"I'm just dying to hear it."The sarcasm was not lost on either of the Linear sisters.

Brooke looked down at her feet, scoffing her toe against the tiled floor for a moment, before muttering something under her breath.

"What was that?"Crimson asked, leaning forward and holding a cupped hand up to her ear.

"Crimmie, don't be a witch."Jamie ordered the younger girl, but since he was looking at his sister when he said it, he missed Brooke's absurdly grateful look.

"I'm not being a witch.I couldn't hear her."The red head snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest and looking upset that her brother had reprimanded her.

"She's got a point."Caitie pointed out. 

"Caitie!"Brooke muttered, shooting a death glare at the girl. 

"What?She DOES." The girl told her, shrugging her shoulders. 

The younger blonde took a deep breath before looking back up at the redhead."I'm sorry I started those rumors about you. They were mean, and that was wrong of me.I hope you will forgive me."

Crimson glared at her for a minute, and then shrugged, brushing it off."Sure.Whatever."The girl smirked at her, pushing a lock of red hair out of her eyes."You're not gonna wanna have like, a sleepover now, are you?"

Jamie couldn't help it; he snorted with laughter at the image of his smartass little sister and Brooke Linear sitting around doing each others hair and gossiping about guys.Caitie and Val both looked at him like he was out of his mind, but he waved his hand in the air as if to tell them to forget it.The two girls exchanged a look of the young man's head before shrugging and chalking it up to a weird Jamie thing. 

@-}--}----

"Okay, what are we doing here again?"Tyler asked Jamie as he and Hank stood on Jamie's porch later that evening.The young man had called them a few hours earlier and asked them to come over for some elusive reason.

"I need your help."Jamie told them, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, we need all the help we can get!"Jazz's voice floated out of the window, and the three young men looked up to see the girl leaning out of the upstairs window, her dark hair covered by a do rag."It's a PIT in here, Jamie!"

"In where?"Hank asked, lifting his eyebrows and looking over at Waite in confusion.

"Umm…my room."Jamie told them, shifting his feet for a minute, before getting a grip on his emotions and straightening his shoulders."I need you guys to help me clean it out."

Tyler and Hank exchanged a confused and slightly suspicious look, before turning back to their friend, their look growing steadily more suspicious as they eyed the smiling young man.

"Why, may I ask, are you cleaning out your room?"Tyler demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and lifting his eyebrows."And why do you want us to help you?"

"I'm cleaning my room so Caitie will have somewhere to go tomorrow."Jamie told them firmly, before turning on his heel and heading into the house.

"Why wouldn't she go to her _own room?"Hank asked, shrugging at Tyler as he followed the spiky haired young man into the house._

"Because she's moving in here, right Jamie?"A new voice piped up as a young woman walked into the foyer from the kitchen, a fist full of garbage bags in her hands.Hank blinked owlishly at the girl and swallowed so hard you could see it.

"Um, hi."He stuttered, running his hand over his hair.

"Hi."She smiled back at him, tucking a lock of her longish dirty blonde hair behind her ear, her hazel eyes twinkling.Tyler noticed the look his best friend was giving the girl and smirked, catching Jamie's eye and tilting his head to the two.Jamie looked over and grinned, wiggling his eyebrows in almost unholy glee.

"Hank, Tyler, this is my next door neighbor Sam.Sam, this is Hank and Tyler; I work with them on the EMS squad."Jamie introduced the two, discreetly gesturing toward the stairs.Tyler noticed and nodded, his baby blue eyes sparkling. 

Quickly, the two men headed toward the stairs, grinning secretly at each other. They had seen THAT look on Hank's face before, most notably with Jasmine and Monique.When they were almost halfway up the steps, Jamie stopped and turned around, calling to down to Hank. 

"Yo man, Tyler and I are going to head on up.Will you hang out down here with Sam and help her out?"Jamie asked, waving his hand at Connell to try and keep the young man quiet as he chuckled loudly, turning to walk the rest of the way up the steps. 

"Yeah, sure man."Jamie had to struggle to keep from laughing at the extremely grateful tone in Hank's voice.

Shaking his head, Jamie headed up after his blond friend, finding him at the top of the steps talking to a young couple.The girl was laughing about something, shaking her head back and forth so that her short blonde hair flipped into her eyes.The fingers of her right hand were laced tightly through those of the tall young man standing next to her, his dark eyes gazing almost adoringly at her.

Jamie grinned and came to a stop beside his slightly confused looking friend."Hey man.I guess you've meet Cindy and Ethan?Cindy works part time at Mere's dinner and Ethan's her boyfriend." He explained.

"Uh…yeah."Jamie could barely hear Tyler over Cindy's laughter.Looking over at the slightly older blonde, he raised an eyebrow. 

"What's so funny, Cindy?" He asked, looking from the smirking girl to his confused friend. It was Ethan that explained it to him however.

"Tyler thought I was your brother, and Cindy Luhoo here thought it was funny as hell."Ethan poked his girlfriend in the back, making her snicker harder.

"Why'd you think that?"Jamie asked, slightly confused."I don't have a brother."

Tyler looked over at him in shock for a minute, and then pointed at Ethan."Man, look at him!He looks just like you!"

Jamie and Ethan studied each other for a minute, before shrugging as one."So we both have brown eyes and black hair. Big deal."Ethan rumbled in his deep bass voice. 

"Yeah, there's not really THAT much resemblance."Cindy spoke up, her laughter forgotten.She smirked at Tyler, who continued to look back and forth between the two men for a second before shrugging and walking down the hall toward Jamie's room.

Cindy watched him go for a minute and opened her mouth as if to say, but then seemed to think better of it.Flashing a pretty smile at Jamie, she tugged a little insistently on Ethan's hand."I'm sorry we can't stay longer, but my shift starts at five."  
  


"Yeah, and I have a test tomorrow."Ethan groaned, running his fingers through his dark hair.

"Fun times all around I see."Jamie grinned, making the couple laugh.

"For real.See ya later!"Cindy called cheerfully, as she and Ethan made their way down the steps.

"Later!"He called back. 

He was halfway to his bedroom when Cindy's surprised yelp and an embarrassed shriek from Sam reached his ears.He slowed to a stop for a minute, and grinned to himself before heading on toward his bedroom.

Wasn't any of his business anyway.

@-}--}---

"Take it easy, Caitie."Jamie ordered the girl as she nearly jumped from the wheelchair the nurse had insisted on wheeling her out in. 

"Who are you, my mother?"Caitie shot back, but smiled to take the sting out of her words.Her friend crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her, a small smile fighting to break free from his lips.

"You forget—_I know what I'm talking about."_

"Oh yes, Mr. EMT, I nearly forgot."The dark haired girl rolled her eyes, but allowed Jamie to help her into the backseat of the waiting car.Genevieve, who was driving, turned around to smile at her and Caitie couldn't help but smile back.

Leaning back against the seat as Jamie shut the door, Caitie sighed happily, glad to be out of the hospital and glad to be going home.Her _new home, as Molly had declared, and Caitie had agreed.Her new home—her __real home._

It wasn't as weird as Caitie had thought it was going to be, to think of the Waites' house as her home.She had come to realize it wasn't strange to her because, on some level, Caitie already thought of Jamie's house as her home.It was where she felt safe and loved, wanted.That was what home was to her. 

The opening of the back side door startled her out of her thoughts, and she turned to see Jamie slid into the seat next to her.Flashing him a smile, she was surprised when he reached out and slid his fingers into her good hand.Surprised, and more then a little pleased.Squeezing his fingers, Caitie couldn't keep the excited smile from pulling at her features.

It was time to go home.


End file.
